Sydney's Most Desirable Suburbs For Urban Living Are Also The Most Dense

As Sydney is increasing its density with more apartments it is important that the liveability of the new urban environment is measured, says the Urban Taskforce.

“We commissioned demographer Mark McCrindle to develop an Urban Living Index from ABS data that measures the liveability of Sydney’s 228 suburbs,” says Urban Taskforce CEO, Chris Johnson. “The 20 most dense suburbs in Sydney generally scored very highly on the index indicating that a good lifestyle is compatible with urban density.”

“The index measured scores across 20 measures within the areas of Affordability, Community, Employability, Amenity and Accessibility using data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) broken into 228 suburbs of Sydney. These scores are matched with the density ranking of each suburb based on the percentage of apartments.

“The suburbs with the highest density are (in order) Haymarket, Potts Point, Pyrmont, Parramatta, North Sydney, Darlinghurst, Kirribilli, Waterloo, Double Bay, Homebush, Crows Nest, Dee Why, North Bondi, and Surry Hills.

"The suburbs with the highest Urban Living Index are (in order) Crows Nest, Surry Hills, Pyrmont, Marrickville, Potts Point, North Sydney, Randwick, Chatswood, Leichhardt, Kirribilli, Hornsby, Newtown, Parramatta, Darlinghurst and Waterloo. Clearly there is an alignment between density and liveability that is good news for Sydney’s planners.

“The factors that lead to a high Urban Living Index include the affordability of apartments, more diverse communities, access to jobs, more restaurants and cafes, closeness to public transport and a better walking environment. The Urban Living Index indicates that a new urban culture is evolving that is different to suburban living. Those living in urban areas seem to have creative industry jobs close to where they live and are far less car dependent than their suburban cousins.